Athens, 6 August 2021 (dpa/MIA) - Strong winds caused firestorms north of Athens on Friday, and also sparked further wildfires, Greek state television reported. Several warehouses and industrial plants along the motorway between Athens and northern Thessaloniki caught fire, leading to many explosions. The government called on the residents of Malakasa and Sfendali to leave the area in warnings sent by text message. Members of the security forces moved from house to house to make sure no one had been left behind. Further evacuations were announced for Oropos, a town further north some 25 kilometres from Athens. Wildfires throughout Greece that have been raging for days amid unseasonably high temperatures burned more fiercely on Friday, fanned by strong westerly winds. In the past 24 hours, 86 new forest fires have started burning across the country, the Greek fire brigade tweeted in the morning. Electricity is increasingly failing in Athens due to the fires. As a precautionary measure, the power company had shut down a large distributor in the affected region on Thursday. The state-owned network operator said on Friday afternoon that it would temporarily disconnect individual Athenian districts from the power system as planned in order to be able to maintain the overall supply. Greek Foreign Minister NikosDendias said on Friday that Greece and Turkey, which is also battling wildfires, would help each other in fighting against the flames. However, this will only be possible when each country is able to control the fires in its own territory. Dendias on Friday spoke on the phone with his Turkish counterpart MevlutCavusoglu. The two countries have been fighting for decades over sovereign rights in the Aegean Sea and over the Cyprus issue, and the situation had further escalated in recent months. In Greece, huge clouds of yellow smoke were visible in many places even dozens of kilometres from the flames and there was a smell of burning, and ash rained down from the sky. At least 18 people were injured and were hospitalized, with most suffering from respiratory problems, Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias told state television on Friday. A leading medic warned of the dangers of air pollution. "Do not go out of the house," said Nina Gaga, who heads the pneumology clinic at Athens' Sotiria hospital. She said regular protective face masks that people are using during the pandemic would not help. Anyone who goes outside should wear a P95 mask or one with an even higher level of protection, she said. Fires also continue to burn on the island of Euboea and in the Peloponnese, with several out of control. On Euboea, the inhabitants of the village of Agia Anna in the north-east of the island had to be brought to safety by boat. Fires are also burning in the north-west, where villages have also been evacuated. The nation must now focus on stopping the fires from spreading, Greek news agency ANA reported. Given the strong winds, there is no chance that they can be brought under control for now. "We are dealing with dozens of forest fires. Three of them - in Athens, the Peloponnese and Euboea - are of huge proportions," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told state television on Thursday night. He warned of an "unprecedented situation because the past few days of heat and drought have turned the country into a powder keg." People are banned from going to forests at least until Monday, and any activities that could lead to sparks or flames are also prohibited.